It's the Thought that Counts
by Jelsemium
Summary: Charlie hunts for the Perfect Valentine's Gift for Amita. I would have posted this on Valentine's Day, but my computer refused to cooperate.


Title: It's the Thought that Counts

Author: Jelsemium

Pairing: Charlie/Amita

Rating: K+

Summary: Charlie thinks very hard about Valentine's Day.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine.

Word Count: 1,139

Charlie sorted through the pile of junk mail in the front hall. He started to toss away the catalogs, but something caught his eye. One of the catalog covers was loaded with jewelry in the shape of hearts, loaded with diamonds, or both. Another catalog featured clothing which was decorated with hearts, flowers, cupids or some combination of the three. A third catalog advertised decorations and other kitschy Valentine's goodies. (Did anybody really need heart shaped wind chimes?) There was a catalog from Radio Shack, but even that wasn't safe as it was covered with helpful hints for Valentine's presents.

Worried, Charlie checked the calendar on his iPhone and was relieved to discover that it was still January. He had eighteen days to come up with something for Amita.

Deciding the catalogs were his best bet for getting a decent Valentine present by Valentine's day, Charlie stuffed them into his briefcase and resolved to leaf through them the first chance he got.

It was only three days later, on a Saturday afternoon, when he got the chance to peruse the catalogs. Amita had gone to play tennis with Lorna Ludlow. Charlie had started digging around his briefcase in search of the power cord for his laptop when he encountered the catalogs.

He decided that finding the perfect Valentine's present for Amita was more important than playing World of Warcraft. (Yes, he loved her that much.)

He settled down in his favorite chair and began shopping.

"Hey, Charlie, care for a game of chess?" Alan asked.

"Um, no thanks," Charlie said.

"What are you reading?" Alan said. He picked up one of the catalogs. Of course, he had to choose the one with the frilly nightwear.

Alan raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that petunia is your color, Charlie," he smirked.

Charlie gave him a disgusted look. "I am looking for a Valentine's present for Amita," he said.

"Well, you have..." Alan checked the date on the newspaper. "Fifteen days before Valentine's Day. Sixteen, if you count Valentine's Day itself." He put his hand on Charlie's forehead.

Charlie batted his hand away. "Very funny," he said. "But you're the one who wants a daughter-in-law." He smirked up at his father. "And I recall how annoyed Mom got when you had to run out at the last minute and grab a handful of dead weeds..."

"Those were overpriced bouquets... and it's the thought that counts."

"And I'm thinking very hard about this," Charlie returned. "Why don't you go pester Don about a game?"

Alan sighed. "Don's planning a vacation," he said.

Charlie stared in shock. "And you haven't called an ambulance?"

Alan shook his head. "I think my sons have been replaced by aliens," he said. "Now, get Amita something good. Maybe I'll see some grandchildren before I shuffle off this mortal coil."

Charlie had a hard time getting over the image of Don on vacation. But he finally shook it off and got to work on the catalogs.

There were several nice rings... but no, he didn't want Amita's Valentine's present to compete with her engagement ring. There were a lot of nice diamond necklaces, too.

"Don't spend too much," Alan advised.

"Excuse me?" Charlie asked.

"You don't want to set the bar too high. You'll have to match it, or exceed it, next year. And the year after... and the year after... Maybe a nice bouquet of roses."

Charlie snorted. "We have a yard filled with roses," he said. He looked at the jewelry again. Maybe diamond jewelry was overkill. At least, for now. So that left, what? Rubies? Garnets? Plain gold?

He picked up one of the clothing catalogs. Dare he buy some slinky negligee? He decided that he didn't. So, what then? A blouse? A scarf? "You've got to be kidding me," Charlie muttered. Even he could see that a scarf wasn't a romantic gift.

He gave up on the catalogs, dug out his power cord and went web surfing. Maybe a charm bracelet? Maybe... then his eye was caught by a pop up ad. "Perfect," he thought. "I know just the right size, too."

He didn't go to the site from the advertisement. Instead he went to an authorized website.

Only to find that the Perfect Valentine's Gift was last year's limited edition and the site was sold out. He tried site after site, but without finding the object of his desire, much less one in Amita's size.

The rational thing to do would have been to pick a different gift. However, Charlie became stubborn. He had enough time. He could do this.

He found a list of authorized dealers and began to go through them one at a time. That got tedious real fast, especially as some of the sites didn't sell the item he sought, much less the right style of it.

He googled. He found several sites that had the object of his desire, but a second check proved them to be known counterfeiters. He checked eBay, but didn't trust the one seller who seemed to be offering the Object of His Desire.

Finally, he found a site that had the Object of his Desire. He checked it against the list of authorized sites and, wonder of wonders, it was there! This was legit (expensive, but legit!)

But wait... they only had the Object of His Desire in two sizes. One of which was a size larger than Amita wore and one was a size smaller.

He was ready to pound his head against his desk, when he noticed the sizing chart. It advised buying a size smaller than usual.

"Hot Damn!" Charlie said. He entered his order before his prize could be taken away from him.

***

On Valentine's Day, Charlie nervously handed Amita a large box wrapped in flowered paper.

"Charlie! You remembered!" Amita kissed him. "Just a second, I got something for you too."

She ran upstairs and returned a few minutes later with a small box. Inside were tickets to Cirque du Soliel.

"Wow!" Charlie said. He began to worry about how appropriate his gift was. Why hadn't he even thought to use Paul Sozou and Robert Seymore's algorithm like he advised his dad?

Amita ripped open her package and pulled out her new... Romantic Ugg boots.

Charlie winced. What had he been thinking.

Amita held up the Ugg boots. The style was called Romantic because they were covered with a rose print.

"Oh, Charlie, these are BEAUTIFUL!" Amita squealed. "I've been looking for these for months!" she pulled the boots out. "And they're exactly the right size!" she dropped the boots and embraced Charlie.

"Ugg boots are romantic?" Alan demanded.

"Yes," Amita purred. "They've got roses! But most importantly," she kissed Charlie again. "It shows that he put a lot of thought into buying something that I would love."


End file.
